If you're reading this, you probably spend a fair amount of time staring at the walls in the smallest room in the house. I also bet that, even though you might not want to admit it in polite company, you often bring a book or magazine with you. Here are my top pics for the best bathroom reading. By the way...you might want to pass on buying any of these books used.
1. Uncle John's Bathroom Reader
Photo © St. Martin's Griffin
Uncle John and his Bathroom Bathroom Readers' Institute have published several volumes of their popular "Bathroom Readers." The book that started it all contains short stories, jokes, urban legends, quotes and trivia.
2. The Great American Bathroom Book: Single-Sitting Summaries of...
Photo © Scarab Book Ltd
Seeing as how you already spend lots of time reading in the bathroom, you may want to be considered "well read." This book is the way to get there fast by summarizing great books in just a few pages. Some of the books covered include "Lord of the Flies," "Don Quixote," "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," and more.
3. Stupid Celebrities: Over 500 of the Most Idiotic Things Ever Said...
Photo © Andrews McMeel Publishing
Be careful with this one -- someone may wonder why you're chuckling to yourself in the bathroom! Not-so-famous quotes by celebrities such as Jean Claude Van Damme, Jenny McCarthy, Cher, Woody Harrelson, and Tori Spelling.
4. The Ladies' Room Reader
Photo © Red Wheel/Weiser
Sorry guys, this one is for the women. Everything you need to know about womanhood -summarized into 300 pages of trivia. Actually, maybe this one should really be requird reading for the guys!
5. The Totally Awesome 80s TV Trivia Book
Photo © iUniverse, Inc
This book has proven to me that I did watch too much television in the 80s. I could answer most of the questions (always enjoyable in a trivia book), but every so often there's a ringer that I'd never know. Case in point, the name of Roscoe P. Coltrane's dog on Dukes of Hazzard. I have no idea, though I watched the show every Friday with the entire family.
6. Ever Wonder Why?
Photo © Fawcett Books
This is another book which is organized into bite sized trivia just right for short reading sessions. Get the answers to the serious questions in life such as why we nod our heads up and down for yes and why chefs wear those tall white hats.
7. Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts
Photo © Gramercy Books
That's right--Isaac Asimov himself has taken a turn at the pop culture phenomenon of trivia. This trivia book doesn't just cover science (however, it does devote 8 pages on the solar system) but also history, art and medicine.
8. Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest: True News of the World's Least Competent People
Photo © Plume
Have you ever heard the phrase "truth is stranger than fiction?" You may believe that's true after reading about the guy with four wives in two states, the man who accidentally shot himself while spitting, and the hypnotist who tried to foil two robbers with his "power."
9. Dave Barry's Greatest Hits
Photo © Ballantine Books
Dave Barry has written numerous essays with his own brand of irreverant humor, and this is a collection of his best. His essays are typically 3 or 4 pages -- just perfect for one "sitting."
10. The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action
Photo © Dutton Books
Being a savvy Internet user, you may have heard of the Darwin Awards, which are given to "individuals who ensure the long-term survival of our species by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion." In other words -- people who accidentally kill, maim, or injure themselves in bizarre ways. Not for the fainthearted!
